The Income Tax Department has unearthed black money to the tune of over Rs 600 crore in a search and seizure operation on a Mumbai-based business group engaged in multi-state gaming activity and online betting including cricket, according to information provided by the finance ministry on Thursday.
Preliminary investigation has revealed a cash turnover of more than Rs. 600 crore in the last 6 months. Listed securities worth more than Rs. 550 crore and 30 bank accounts have been provisionally attached so far. Cash, including foreign currency amounting to Rs 3.08 crore and jewellery worth Rs. 81 lakh have also been seized in the raids carried out on February 15 that covered 29 premises of the company spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Surat, Jaipur, Pune and Kolkata.
The search action revealed that the group was operating in a clandestine manner and had concealed its operations and income from law enforcement agencies. The revenue generated by the group from its activities is largely in cash, the official statement said.
The group operates from Mumbai and has a wide network of agents and area managers in different cities for collection of cash from a large customer base who use websites hosted on cloud servers by private operators.
The search revealed that, after allotting IDs and passwords to the customers, points are credited into their accounts by agents/area managers after collecting cash from them. The cash is then sent to Mumbai through hawala operators. Handwritten notes, documents and digital evidence containing detailed accounts of daily cash transactions to be introduced in the books of account have been seized during the search.
The search also showed that the group has been introducing its unaccounted cash into books of account as unsecured loans, security premium, partner’s capital, agricultural income, share transactions, commission and trading income, etc., in the form of accommodation entries. This cash has been routed through several layers of shell companies controlled by the entry provider groups or through hawala channels. The amounts introduced in the books of account have been invested in real estate and the securities market.
Further investigations are still in progress.
Also read: Rs 800 crore black cash unearthed in tax raids on real estate firms in AP & Telangana
